


A few Moments in Time ; Before and Right Now

by MarieAqua



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Big Bro Harley, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Mild Gore, Mild Language, One Shot, Owen Stark (OC), Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Stark Twins, mcu - Freeform, small angst, tony stark mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 04:44:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17135183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarieAqua/pseuds/MarieAqua
Summary: "Pepper gave him a place to stay in the compound and regretfully had to tell him that Tony was missing and presumed dead; something she was still trying to believe.“Yea, well that’s what they said last time and he ended up in my garage so let’s see if we can find where he is” the kid responded to her statement of loss. Pepper knew then that what drew Tony to this kid was how alike they were."A fluff piece I stayed up all night working on because the idea would not leave me alone. No real plot but a lot of flashbacks in the form of memories. The mild gore tag is for a description of an injury that left a scar, no blood is mentioned. Enjoy <3





	A few Moments in Time ; Before and Right Now

Pepper was tired, Owen was upset and didn’t want to sleep. Pepper had expected to have some lost sleep when she and Tony had kids, but they didn’t really plan to have twins in a post-apocalyptic world. Morgan and Owen were the lights of her life. They were the best thing to happen to her - even in front of Tony, but my god did they like to keep her busy. Well, Owen liked to. Morgan was the most independent eight-month-old Pepper had ever met. She almost never cried, slept through the night, and was fine with being out down if her brother needed anything. Owen on the other hand only ever wanted to be held and would cry until he got his way. Pepper and Tony had tried the “let them cry it out” method, but Owen was persistent. So here she was at 2:30 am sitting on the couch holding her eight-month-old son as he fell asleep. Pepper was about to fall asleep herself when the heavy door to the garage slammed shut. 

“Shit!” someone scream-whispered. Pepper turned around to see Harley looking at her wide-eyed. “I’m sorry!” Harley came closer to her. “Did you just get him to sleep?”. 

“Yea, don’t worry I don’t think you woke him up…” Pepper began to reassure Harley that the door hadn’t woken Owen up when a familiar wail filled the room. Pepper cringed. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Pepper. What me to get him so you can get some sleep?” Harley asked holding out his arms as to take Owen.

“No, I’m fine. You’re covered in motor oil and grease anyway. What were you doing out there? At 2 am?” 

“Oh… well, I was just working on some little projects. Small things you know?” Harley shrugged off the question.

“I guess. You and Tony I swear; some true night owls. If he wasn’t already up 24/7 with the twins he would be in there with you” Pepper rolled her eyes as she gently rocked Owen. 

“Yea I guess I should probably shower before I try holding any small humans” Harley yawned.

“And sleep, you shouldn’t be up this late”.

“I know, goodnight Pepper,” Harley said as he walked towards the hallway. 

“Night Harley” Pepper called back. 

Pepper sat until she was sure that Owen was back asleep, then got up to take him back to his room. As she approached she could hear someone talking. 

“Wow you’re really starting to look like your dad, aren’t you?” It was Harley talking to Morgan. She must have woken up at some point when Pepper was in the living room with Owen. “You are so quiet though, so unlike you dad there” Pepper could hear Harley giggle at that. There was a pause, then Harley spoke up again. “You know I had a sister once…”. 

Pepper knew of Harley’s past. Grew up in Tennessee with his mom and little sister, no dad around. After the snap he was alone. As a 15-year-old he made the trek from Tennessee to upstate New York on his own in a car he had hot-wired. When he showed up asking for Tony, Pepper knew who he was right away. Tony had told her about a kid he had met while in hiding from the Mandarin. He kept tabs on the kid and got him new lab equipment frequently. Pepper gave him a place to stay in the compound and regretfully had to tell him that Tony was missing and presumed dead; something she was still trying to believe. 

“Yea, well that’s what they said last time and he ended up in my garage so let’s see if we can find where he is” the kid responded to her statement of loss. Pepper knew then that what drew Tony to this kid was how alike they were. 

Harley had done a large amount of the work to get Tony back. He was the one that got the faithful transmission to go through.

“This is Harley Keener with Avengers, Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff. We are trying to contact Tony Stark. If he or anyone with information about his whereabouts can hear this please try to respond” Pepper had been in the room but requested not to be a part of it. She was grieving and couldn’t find the energy or heart to take part in any of it. The room had been silent for a few moments until a familiar voice filled the room.

“I get that I’m staring death straight in the face, but do you have to sound like you’re trying to reach me through an Ouija Board?” Tony’s attitude seemed as snarky as ever. “Also, how did you find me? Harley of all people?” 

“We’re connected” was his answer. 

Pepper wouldn’t believe that Tony was really alive until he stepped off of that spaceship and into her arms. 

Once Tony was settled the Avengers explained the situation to him. It was dire, to say the least. Tony sat through everything, taking it all in. Once they were done debriefing him Tony only had one question, “Why was Harley on my search and rescue team?”. Pepper simply stated that Harley’s family had been taken in the snap and that she was taking care of him. Tony just nodded. 

Pepper would soon learn that Peter had also been taken in the snap, but it was long and painful due to his healing factor and that he had died in Tony’s arms begging for help. Tony was obviously traumatized and wasn’t emotionally able to help Harley at the time or to even be around him for long due to Harley being so similar to Peter. After a few months, Tony was able to slowly open up to Harley and started to parent him the same way he did Peter. Pepper knew that Tony was a natural at parenting and that him wanting kids wasn’t a far-fetched idea, but seeing him act like this kid’s father was something else. Tony and Harley would both deny the father-son bond but Pepper saw it. 

“...She was very different from you” Harley’s voice pulled her out of her memory. “She was blonde and had these light blue eyes, and acted like every baby out there. Loud and needy, like your brother” Pepper smiled down at her now sleeping son. “I wish I could pick you up right now but I’m kinda messy” Harley sighed, “Wow I’ve really grown up, haven’t I? Myself years ago wouldn’t even imagine holding a baby” 

Harley was right; he had grown up a lot. When Pepper and Tony had first taken him in he still looked like a little kid. He had a mop of dirty blonde hair, freckles, and still had a baby tooth. Now he was 19 and sure looked like it. He’s about a head taller than Tony with shoulders just as wide. He had cut his hair into a shorter undercut and it had darkened to where in some lights his hair looked dark brown. His freckles had faded into barely noticeable spots on his nose. His eyes had become more hooded yet kept their intense expressiveness. His eyes… something that he had almost lost and Pepper could see the lasting mark to this day. 

In the few years that Harley had been with them, he had designed and built his own Iron Man suit dubbed the “Iron Lad”. He started to go out with the rest of the Avengers to try and restore peace in the world and to find clues as to reverse the snap. On one of these missions, something had gotten ahold of Harley - some kind of alien - and held him down. Tony had been too far to get to him before the creature ripped off Harley’s faceplate, the sharp edge of said plate carving a line across Harley’s face from his right cheek, across his nose, and halfway up the left of his forehead. The cut had barely missed his eyes, any farther to either side and he would have lost an eye. The cut left a deep scar that runs the entire length of the initial injury. 

Tony beat himself up over it for a while, saying that he was dumb for letting another kid join the battle. That Harley had gotten hurt because of him and what if it had been worse. Pepper had to remind him that Harley was almost an adult. Harley was pretty much unstoppable as a kid, that Tony can’t stop him now from joining the fight. 

“You know, when Tony told me that Pepper was pregnant with you and your brother I was a little unhappy” That surprised Pepper, Harley had always seemed happy with the twins. “I was starting to think of Tony as a dad I guess and when he said that “You’re going to have siblings” I felt like I was replacing my sister and that Pepper was replacing my mom. It took a lot of thinking to realize that I wasn’t replacing them”. Harley paused. Pepper thought that maybe Harley had figured out that she had been listening in, but he continued. “ My mom and sister are gone for now, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t have other siblings. I knew a bunch of kids who had a mom and a step-mom and one didn’t replace the other” Harley stopped again. “Sorry about the thought vomit, Morgan. I just saw you sitting up in here alone and wanted to give you some company while you waited for your brother to return. Well, I guess one is already here, but twin brother” Pepper heard Harley start to walk to the doorway. Not wanting him to know she had been listening in Pepper quickly stepping around the corner behind her and acted as she had just walked up. 

“Harley, why are you still up? I thought you were going to bed forever ago?” 

“Well I need to shower first, I’m kinda filthy from the lab” 

“Okay but be quick, I really do want you asleep soon”

Harley rolled his eyes and turned towards to bathroom. As he walked away Pepper could hear him mutter “Okay mom”. 

Pepper smiled and looked down at Owen sleeping in her arms, “You’re older brother is still in his grumpy teen phase isn’t he?”. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment if you would like too. <3


End file.
